The Mere Presence of your Smartphone Reduces Brain Power By Austin Jacar; Scienc Leave a reply The Mere Presence of your Smartphone Reduces Brain PowerBy Austin Jacar; Science News; 20171. Your cognitive capacity is significantly reduced when your smartphone iswithin reach even if its off. Thats the takeaway finding from a new studyfrom the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.McCombs Assistant Professor Adrian Ward and co-authors conductedexperiments with nearly 800 smartphone users in an attempt to measure, for thefirst time, how well people can complete tasks when they have theirsmartphones nearby even when theyre not using them.2. In one experiment, the researchers asked study participants to sit at a computerand take a series of tests that required full concentration in order to score well.The tests were geared to measure participants available cognitive capacity that is, the brains ability to hold and process data at any given time. Beforebeginning, participants were randomly instructed to place their smartphoneseither on the desk face down, in their pocket or personal bag, or in anotherroom. All participants were instructed to turn their phones to silent.3. The researchers found that participants with their phones in another roomsignificantly outperformed those with their phones on the desk, and they alsooutperformed those participants who had kept their phones in a pocket or bag.4. The findings suggest that the presence of ones smartphone reduces availablecognitive capacity and impairs cognitive functioning, even though people feeltheyre giving their full attention and focus to the task at hand. We see a lineartrend that suggests that as the smartphone becomes more noticeable,participants available cognitive capacity decreases, Ward said. Yourconscious mind isnt thinking about your smartphone, but that process theprocess of requiring yourself to not think about something uses up some ofyour limited cognitive resources. Its a brain drain.5. In another experiment, researchers looked at how a persons self-reportedsmartphone dependence or how strongly a person feels he or she needs tohave a smartphone in order to get through a typical day affected cognitivecapacity. Participants performed the same series of computer-based tests as thefirst group and were randomly assigned to keep their smartphones either insight on the desk face up, in a pocket or bag, or in another room. In thisexperiment, some participants were also instructed to turn off their phones.6. The researchers found that participants who were the most dependent on theirsmartphones performed worse compared with their less-dependent peers, butonly when they kept their smartphones on the desk or in their pocket or bag.7. Ward and his colleagues also found that it didnt matter whether a personssmartphone was turned on or off, or whether it was lying face up or face downon a desk. Having a smartphone within sight or within easy reach reduces apersons ability to focus and perform tasks because part of their brain is activelyworking to not pick up or use the phone. Its not that participants weredistracted because they were getting notifications on their phones, said Ward.The mere presence of their smartphone was enough to reduce their cognitivecapacity. This entry was posted in English Language on December 6, 2021 by .
